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Byline Times can reveal that 136 Reform UK candidates are raising money from a crowdfunding platform that allows donors to keep their address secret and donate from abroad.
GoFundMe states that candidates using its platform to fundraise are responsible for contacting donors to obtain the information they need to check if a donation is legal.
But only 21 out of the 157 Reform candidates using it make clear that they need additional details from donors on their fundraising pages or that they will vet donations.
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“We’ve heard a lot in the campaign about D-Day. If ever there was a time to fight them on the beaches, then this is it.”
Reform candidates have raised £99,730 on the platform at the time of writing, of which £82,065 has come from fundraisers without the necessary disclaimers.
GoFundMe said that it directs all candidates to the Electoral Commission’s rules when they register and told Byline Times that it is “important candidates fully understand the rules”.
“It is the candidate’s responsibility to collect required donor information,” it said. “We are able to pass on some information required by the Electoral Commission, collected during the donation process, and we can refund donations that can’t be verified.”
The elections watchdog requires candidates to state on their fundraising pages that they will check if donations are from a permissible source – someone who is listed on the electoral register or a company registered in the UK.
The Politics of Farage and Reform is No Joke of a Matter – The Established Media Must Learn Its Lessons and Start Holding Them to Account
The normalisation of racism and dog-whistles will only get worse if the press continues to treat Farage as an entertaining figure representing the ‘real views’ of the British people – it must stop, writes Byline Times’ Editor
Candidates must return donations if they are anonymous or if they don’t know the identity of the donor, under Electoral Commission rules.
In 2019, a probe by the watchdog found that Reform – then named the Brexit Party – had “a high and ongoing risk” of impermissible donations due to its online funding system.
The investigation came after concerns were raised that the party could be in breach of electoral law by allowing multiple donations potentially from outside of the UK. Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned at the time that “democracy is undermined when we have undeclared, unreported, untraceable payments being made to the Brexit Party”.
The party said that no rules were broken at the time and pledged to “embrace” recommendations on checking donors.
Reform Party Candidates Continue to Make Richard Tice’s Insistence the Party is not Far-Right Seem Questionable – Here’s More Examples
For the second time this week Byline Times exposes more Reform UK candidates sharing content from far-right influencers and commentators
More than a dozen of the Reform candidates fundraising on GoFundMe have also been reported to have made offensive or inappropriate comments on social media.
They include Grant StClair-Armstrong, the former candidate for North West Essex, who resigned after he was found to have written blog posts containing jokes using racial slurs. StClair-Armstrong raised £700 on the platform. Reform did not respond when asked if the funds will be returned.
Steve Beatty, the party’s candidate in Didcot and Wantage, who was reported to be Facebook ‘friends’ with a fascist leader, still has a live fundraiser on the platform and has secured £1,105.
Jack Aaron, the Reform candidate for Welwyn Hatfield, continues to fundraise on the platform despite reportedly claiming that Adolf Hitler was “brilliant” at inspiring people into action.
Ken Ferguson, the Reform candidate for Wirral West, has raised £2,745 on the platform, of which £2,500 has come from a single anonymous donation. Ferguson was reported to have previously liked an ‘anti-vax’ message on social media, as well as an Islamophobic tweet joking that Muslim men married 12 year olds, and a post denying climate change. He is one of eight Reform candidates who received individual donations of more than £1,000 but failed to include any dis